Students Seek Shuttle Loss Comprehension

Published 7:00 pm, Sunday, February 2, 2003

AP National Writer

Four students from a Syracuse, N.Y., high school had waited more than three years for their science experiment _ an ant farm _ to fly into space.

They watched excitedly, and nervously, as the Columbia shuttle lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center last month with their project on board. The students even had a mascot: a big, stuffed ant they named "Anty EM."

"We knew that risks are present all the time. But we thought we were home free," said Abby Golash, one of the four students from Fowler High School, said Sunday as she and the others met at a teacher's home to discuss the devastating loss of the shuttle and its crew.

"Unbelievable," said Golash, 17.

She and the other students have asked their principal to keep any mention of the shuttle accident "low-key" at school Monday. A moment of silence, she and the others decided, would be the most appropriate way for students to pay their respects.

Teachers and children elsewhere _ some with connections to the mission, but many without _ also planned to remember or discuss the Columbia disaster as they returned to school.

"It's very tough. We had such a personal investment in this," Golash said. "But we want to keep the focus on the astronauts, as a tribute to them."

In Israel, the mood was also somber at the Ort technical high school in Kiryat Motzkin, a suburb of the northern port city of Haifa. Students at the school had sent their own experiment with Columbia and had been cheering on their countryman Ilan Ramon, the first Israeli astronaut.

Students covered desks with black table cloths and photo collages showing Ramon and the students' work on the project. During breaks Sunday, a regular school day in Israel, many of the school's 1,500 students crowded around the exhibits.

The shuttle disaster also destroyed the silkworm experiment of three students from South Central Los Angeles's Dorsey High School, in a poor, violence-plagued area. The students said Sunday they want to continue pursuing careers in science despite the tragedy.

"I told my sister, I want to go to space," said Atiabet Ijan Amabel, 16. "No matter what happens, I know people (can) die but you just tell me to go tomorrow, I'm going."

In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry warned school administrators in 93 counties to check school grounds for debris, including roofs, before letting children come to school Monday. At least two school districts in the area where many pieces of wreckage came to rest were closed Monday.

The loss of the shuttle and its crew did not hit nearly as close to home for most students across the country. Some teachers said they and their classes were not even aware that the shuttle was in space until the accident.

Still, at least one grief expert said it's important for any teacher to address the loss of the crew in some way _ at the very least, by telling students they are free to voice their thoughts and concerns.

Sonja Gibson, a teacher in Los Angeles, said she spent a considerable amount of time talking to her first-graders about the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and expected to do the same Monday as she started a new job teaching sixth- and seventh-graders in nearby Sherman Oaks, Calif.

"You do have to spend time finding closure," Gibson said.

Tom McSheehy, a fourth-grade teacher, wants to make sure his students don't confuse the shuttle with travel on commercial airplanes.

"That's something they will do, and I want them to see there is quite a big difference in risk," said McSheehy, who teaches in Oak Park, Ill., a Chicago suburb.